Nostalgia Electrics Kegerator (Regulator Question)

Beer Trader

I recently got a Nostalgia Electrics Kegerator model KRS2100. The kit came with the CO2 tank and a dual regulator. Seen below:

I went to my local place to fill up kegs and CO2 tanks. Since I am new to this, I asked the gentleman where my gauges should be once I get everything hooked up. He proceeded to tell me that the gauge on the left will do absolutely nothing with my setup (confused to why there are two then). With the keg I purchased, Dales Pale Ale, he told me the gauge on the right should be between 5 and 10.

When I got home and hooked everything up, I noticed that the gauge on the left did nothing (like he said). I got the gauge on the right set to around 8 and it gave me a nice pour.

Question:

My understanding is that the gauge on the left is to tell you the remaining pressure left in your CO2 tank. If so, why wouldn't that work? I see it ranges from 0-3000PSI. I would imagine, even though my CO2 tank is very small, it would at least show something since the range goes down to zero.

Can anyone help me understand this?

**In addition, after a week and 5 beer poured from my new kegerator...my CO2 tank was empty. I took the tank and regulator into the keg shop and the guy found a leak in the gauge on the right. I called the company and they are sending me a new one. Would this have anything to do with it?**

This is not a dual regulator. It's a single regulator with two gauges - a high pressure gauge for the tank (the one on the left), and one for the regulated pressure that is delivered to the keg (the one on top). The high pressure gauge shows the pressure (not the volume) of the gas in the tank. This gauge will not change as long as there is liquid CO2 in the tank (it takes 700psi at room temperature to keep CO2 in a liquid state). This gauge will remain constant until the liquid is all gone and you're literally running on fumes, at which point, you will not have enough gas for tonight's party. I'm not sure why your high pressure gauge did nothing when you hooked it up. I don't know what Oskar Blues recommends for Dale's, but 5 to 10 psi sounds like an absurdly wide range, and a bit on the low side. 10-11 is more like it, but again, I don't say this with authority. The top gauge is what you're looking at for this. 8psi may pour nicely, but the beer will soon taste flat. I would recommend asking either the dealer or the brewer at what pressure this beer should be served. When in doubt, 11psi is a good number at 38F.

So when you first hook up the regulator, shouldn't the high pressure gauge pop up to X amount and stay there until the CO2 is used up and you're running on fumes?

Click to expand...

That's what generally happens. It's curious that the gentleman told you that the gauge on the left would do absolutely nothing. It's even more curious that the gauge on the left, indeed, did nothing. Maybe you didn't relate the conversation accurately?

A leak makes any other troubleshooting efforts meaningless. It may or may not actually cause a problem like we're discussing, but there's really no way to know. At best, the reading on that particular gauge is suspect.

Beer Trader

Thanks for the assistance. I received my replacement regulator in the mail last night. I put it on the CO2 tank and it has a bad leek near the stop valve. I'm not happy.

I put the old regulator back on and now both of the gauges are working. I listened for leaks but couldn't hear any. I guess time will tell.

Does anyone have any recommendations of after market regulators in case these are just crappy, faulty regulators? I'm not looking for anything too fancy, but would like something functional and not made of plastic (gauges).

I'm ordering a kegerator conversion kit from the beverage factory. I read all the reviews for their different kits on Amazin and almost all of them mention receiving a faulty regulator and having to get a replacement. This seems way too common to e acceptable.

I bought Micro-Matic regulators when I built my system years ago. I didn't choose them for any particular reason -- these were simply the only regulators that were stocked at the time by the supplier that had the best total price (easier than shopping around for a dozen parts). I've since become aware that Micro-Matic is among the better brands that is marketed for home setups. FWIW, I've never had a problem with my regulators.